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Without Pity: Ann Rule's Most Dangerous Killers
In an update to one of the most astonishing crimes of the Case Files volumes, Ann Rule profiles the criminals that kill without conscience and shatters their crimes without pity.
In eight stunning Case Files volumes, from A Rose for Her Grave to the #1 blockbuster Last Dance, Last Chance, Ann Rule reigns as “America’s best true-crime writer” (Kirkus Reviews). Now, she updates the most astonishing cases from that acclaimed series—and presents shocking, all-new true-crime accounts—in one riveting anthology.
In every explosive chapter of Without Pity, Ann Rule deepens her unrelenting exploration of the evil that lies behind the perfect facades of heartless killers . . . and the deadly compulsions of greed and power that shatter their outward trappings of material success.
They are the admired, trusted neighbor; the affable family man; the sexy, charismatic lover; the high-achieving professional. Perhaps most frightening of all is that they are heroes in their own minds. But when someone gets in the way of their deluded dreams, they are capable of deadly acts of violence with no remorse.
Analyzing the true nature of the sociopathic mind in chilling detail, Ann Rule traces the murderous crimes of seemingly ordinary men—killers who drew their unsuspecting victims into their twisted worlds with devastating consequences.
In eight stunning Case Files volumes, from A Rose for Her Grave to the #1 blockbuster Last Dance, Last Chance, Ann Rule reigns as “America’s best true-crime writer” (Kirkus Reviews). Now, she updates the most astonishing cases from that acclaimed series—and presents shocking, all-new true-crime accounts—in one riveting anthology.
In every explosive chapter of Without Pity, Ann Rule deepens her unrelenting exploration of the evil that lies behind the perfect facades of heartless killers . . . and the deadly compulsions of greed and power that shatter their outward trappings of material success.
They are the admired, trusted neighbor; the affable family man; the sexy, charismatic lover; the high-achieving professional. Perhaps most frightening of all is that they are heroes in their own minds. But when someone gets in the way of their deluded dreams, they are capable of deadly acts of violence with no remorse.
Analyzing the true nature of the sociopathic mind in chilling detail, Ann Rule traces the murderous crimes of seemingly ordinary men—killers who drew their unsuspecting victims into their twisted worlds with devastating consequences.
448 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 24, 2003
321 people are currently reading
2659 people want to read
About the author
Ann Rule
129 books4,467 followersAnn Rule was a popular American true crime writer. Raised in a law enforcement and criminal justice system environment, she grew up wanting to work in law enforcement herself. She was a former Seattle Policewoman and was well educated in psychology and criminology.
She came to prominence with her first book, The Stranger Beside Me, about the Ted Bundy murders. At the time she started researching the book, the murders were still unsolved. In the course of time, it became clear that the killer was Bundy, her friend and her colleague as a trained volunteer on the suicide hotline at the Seattle, Washington Crisis Clinic, giving her a unique distinction among true crime writers.
Rule won two Anthony Awards from Bouchercon, the mystery fans' organization. She was nominated three times for the Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. She is highly regarded for creating the true crime genre as it exists today.
Ann Rule also wrote under the name Andy Stack . Her daughter is Goodreads author Leslie Rule.
She came to prominence with her first book, The Stranger Beside Me, about the Ted Bundy murders. At the time she started researching the book, the murders were still unsolved. In the course of time, it became clear that the killer was Bundy, her friend and her colleague as a trained volunteer on the suicide hotline at the Seattle, Washington Crisis Clinic, giving her a unique distinction among true crime writers.
Rule won two Anthony Awards from Bouchercon, the mystery fans' organization. She was nominated three times for the Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. She is highly regarded for creating the true crime genre as it exists today.
Ann Rule also wrote under the name Andy Stack . Her daughter is Goodreads author Leslie Rule.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
July 12, 2018
Thank you, Valerity (Val) for turning me on to Ann Rule! I'm so glad I've got another one of her books sitting on my shelves right now. And another couple on the way to me....
February 22, 2022
Eight true crime cases told as only Ann Rule can tell. Every case is horrifying and sure to shock you. Once again the Queen of True Crime has given us another well written, researched, and told book.
April 10, 2019
Four and a half stars for Ann Rule; one for the publisher.
I was pretty excited to find what I'd thought was a "new" edition of Ann Rule's true crime tales at a book sale. I'd been pretty sure I'd read everything non-fiction she had written, but I didn't recognize the title or cover. What a find!
What a sham. This is a volume of three new short pieces by Rule--the rest are stories pulled from Rule's other true crime collections. I really hate it when publishers do this; I think it's extremely unethical, unless they make it absolutely clear on the cover that the volume is a reprint (they didn't). Rule's fans tend to read everything she published, so it would be rare to find someone interested in this book who hasn't read the majority of it before.
In my case, I paid a dollar at a charity used book sale, and I didn't mind re-reading the stories, which were excellent, as usual. But the publisher shouldn't try to pass this off as a volume of new material.
I was pretty excited to find what I'd thought was a "new" edition of Ann Rule's true crime tales at a book sale. I'd been pretty sure I'd read everything non-fiction she had written, but I didn't recognize the title or cover. What a find!
What a sham. This is a volume of three new short pieces by Rule--the rest are stories pulled from Rule's other true crime collections. I really hate it when publishers do this; I think it's extremely unethical, unless they make it absolutely clear on the cover that the volume is a reprint (they didn't). Rule's fans tend to read everything she published, so it would be rare to find someone interested in this book who hasn't read the majority of it before.
In my case, I paid a dollar at a charity used book sale, and I didn't mind re-reading the stories, which were excellent, as usual. But the publisher shouldn't try to pass this off as a volume of new material.
February 6, 2017
This book is mostly reprints from Ann Rule's Crime Files vols. 1-8, but it includes three new cases, and several of the reprints have updates.
The reprints are:
*"Campbell's Revenge" (A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases)
*"One Trick Pony" (You Belong to Me and Other True Crime Cases)
*"The Last Letter" (You Belong to Me and Other True Crime Cases)
*"I'll Love You Forever" (A Fever in the Heart and Other True Cases)
*"Murder & the Proper Housewife" (In the Name of Love and Other True Cases)
*"The Most Dangerous Game" (In the Name of Love and Other True Cases)
*"The Killer Who Never Forgot . . . or Forgave" (In the Name of Love and Other True Cases)
*"The Lost Lady" (A Rage to Kill and Other True Cases)
*"The Stockholm Syndrome" (Empty Promises and Other True Cases
The new cases are:
*"The Tumbledown Shack": Chelan WA 1975: This one is creepily similar to "The Beach" (in Last Dance, Last Chance and Other True Cases), which also occurred in 1975, approximately 300 miles away. Two young women camping alone in an isolated location, surprised and murdered by a stranger. Tina Jacobsen and Gael Burton were stabbed to death in April in Moclips WA by William Batten; Beverly Johnson and Patty Weidner were stabbed to death in September in Chelan WA by someone who might or might not have been Jack Lee Stolle. Stolle clearly had guilty knowledge--he knew things that hadn't been released to the media--but his story was also wrong in places, and he would never either confess his own guilt or admit that he had been told about the crime by someone else. He died in prison without ever coming clean.
Johnson and Weidner were traveling with their dogs, Charlie and Silas (one reason they were confident in their own safety). Silas was also killed the same weekend (though his remains were too decomposed to determine cause of death); Charlie was still guarding Beverly Johnson's body when she was found.
*"Dead and on Tape": Seattle WA 1973: Nick Kyreacos died in what appeared to be a shoot-out with a police officer (Rule used a pseudonym, but the power of Google tells me his name was David T. Smith). Unbeknownst to the officer, however, Kyreacos had a tape recorder concealed on his body, and what it recorded was not a shoot-out. The officer murdered Kyreacos, then shot himself twice (carefully) to make it look like Kyreacos had attacked him--in effect framing him for his own death. The trial did not uncover the officer's motives.
*"Fatal Obsession": Bainbridge Island WA 1970?: Old National Bank VP kills his wife, their toddler son, their dachshund puppy, and himself, apparently in the grip of a psychotic break. As best anyone can tell, he believed at the time of his death that he had to sacrifice himself and his family in order to save the world. He killed himself by stabbing himself four times deeply in the chest--dramatically atypical of suicides--so that detectives were very nearly misled into looking for an outside assailant.
The reprints are:
*"Campbell's Revenge" (A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases)
*"One Trick Pony" (You Belong to Me and Other True Crime Cases)
*"The Last Letter" (You Belong to Me and Other True Crime Cases)
*"I'll Love You Forever" (A Fever in the Heart and Other True Cases)
*"Murder & the Proper Housewife" (In the Name of Love and Other True Cases)
*"The Most Dangerous Game" (In the Name of Love and Other True Cases)
*"The Killer Who Never Forgot . . . or Forgave" (In the Name of Love and Other True Cases)
*"The Lost Lady" (A Rage to Kill and Other True Cases)
*"The Stockholm Syndrome" (Empty Promises and Other True Cases
The new cases are:
*"The Tumbledown Shack": Chelan WA 1975: This one is creepily similar to "The Beach" (in Last Dance, Last Chance and Other True Cases), which also occurred in 1975, approximately 300 miles away. Two young women camping alone in an isolated location, surprised and murdered by a stranger. Tina Jacobsen and Gael Burton were stabbed to death in April in Moclips WA by William Batten; Beverly Johnson and Patty Weidner were stabbed to death in September in Chelan WA by someone who might or might not have been Jack Lee Stolle. Stolle clearly had guilty knowledge--he knew things that hadn't been released to the media--but his story was also wrong in places, and he would never either confess his own guilt or admit that he had been told about the crime by someone else. He died in prison without ever coming clean.
Johnson and Weidner were traveling with their dogs, Charlie and Silas (one reason they were confident in their own safety). Silas was also killed the same weekend (though his remains were too decomposed to determine cause of death); Charlie was still guarding Beverly Johnson's body when she was found.
*"Dead and on Tape": Seattle WA 1973: Nick Kyreacos died in what appeared to be a shoot-out with a police officer (Rule used a pseudonym, but the power of Google tells me his name was David T. Smith). Unbeknownst to the officer, however, Kyreacos had a tape recorder concealed on his body, and what it recorded was not a shoot-out. The officer murdered Kyreacos, then shot himself twice (carefully) to make it look like Kyreacos had attacked him--in effect framing him for his own death. The trial did not uncover the officer's motives.
*"Fatal Obsession": Bainbridge Island WA 1970?: Old National Bank VP kills his wife, their toddler son, their dachshund puppy, and himself, apparently in the grip of a psychotic break. As best anyone can tell, he believed at the time of his death that he had to sacrifice himself and his family in order to save the world. He killed himself by stabbing himself four times deeply in the chest--dramatically atypical of suicides--so that detectives were very nearly misled into looking for an outside assailant.
September 5, 2009
I don't understand why I am drawn to these true crime books, but I am. Most of her stories go back to crimes from the 60s and 70s. This was not my first time reading her, and it won't be my last. I just don't broadcast this weakness (except on goodreads).
August 10, 2023
One thing I know I’ll never tire of is Ann Rule’s writing. Every time I pick up one of her books I know it’s a guaranteed good read and there’s something very priceless about that! This wasn’t my absolute fave by her but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I prefer her longer stories over her shorter ones and this collection was mostly shorter ones. I was also a little disappointed to find a lot of the stories in this collection were featured in other collections I’ve read or own and so there’s some doubling of stories happening which is a bummer.
December 11, 2022
As always, these true crime stories by Ann Rule serve to remind us to be aware of dangerous situations and people.
Read
April 26, 2021Read for research.
Haunting true stories, well-written. Only slightly useful for my psychopathy research.
Haunting true stories, well-written. Only slightly useful for my psychopathy research.
August 13, 2012
I read this when I was in school. I remember suspecting everyone I knew of being sociopaths.
Truly Gripping and Horrifyingly tragic, in most cases, this one's for all the true crime fans out there!
Looking forward to reading 'The Stranger beside me.' If only i could get my hands on it!!
Truly Gripping and Horrifyingly tragic, in most cases, this one's for all the true crime fans out there!
Looking forward to reading 'The Stranger beside me.' If only i could get my hands on it!!
April 6, 2017
Ann Rule includes her "most dangerous killers" choices culled from other books with three new cases.
January 12, 2018
This book was a mixed read for me.
March 9, 2023
In my opinion Ann Rule’s Without Pity is among the very best of her true crime collections. She is a good writer and all the accounts chosen for this book are interesting.* The murder described in chapter 2 (“Dead and on Tape”) is especially notable in the light of the recent Murdaugh case. More appalling are the crimes described in chapters 3, 4 & 11 (“Fatal Obsession,” “Campbell’s Revenge,” “The Stockholm Syndrome”). Highly recommended for any true-crime reader.
*familiarity with the settings is an added fillip for those acquainted with the Puget Sound area. Of course that very familiarity can lead to nit-picking … Betty MacDonald’s wonderful The Egg and I is about her experiences on the Olympic Peninsula, not Bainbridge Island; the even better Onions in the Stew is an extremely funny account of her later life on Vashon Island, which is also not Bainbridge.
*familiarity with the settings is an added fillip for those acquainted with the Puget Sound area. Of course that very familiarity can lead to nit-picking … Betty MacDonald’s wonderful The Egg and I is about her experiences on the Olympic Peninsula, not Bainbridge Island; the even better Onions in the Stew is an extremely funny account of her later life on Vashon Island, which is also not Bainbridge.
January 13, 2014
This boook includes a number of summaries of true crime tales from Ann Rule. With the short summary format, it is hard to get into any character development, or any suspenseful story-telling, so it ends up as just a straight-forward "here's what happened" collection.
I found myself bored with the lack of anything interesting, and I find that I am moving away from true-crime altogether.
I found myself bored with the lack of anything interesting, and I find that I am moving away from true-crime altogether.
October 3, 2017
Ann Rule's stories are always interesting but this was a poorly edited book. In one story, a man was murdered in November of 1973. A page later, it happened in November 1974. A page later, describing the murder victim, he 'got into some trouble in the summer of 1975.' Interesting, considering he was dead. This wasn't the only error either.
December 20, 2014
I love the way Ann gives background information on both victim and killer. It's as much a psychological study as criminal.
March 27, 2018
A compilation of Ann Rule's short stories, mostly set in and around the Seattle area. Rule is one of my favorite true crime writers.
June 17, 2019
I love true crime and Ann Rule is the best!
August 16, 2024
Terrific stories told by Ann Rule. As usual her books do net disappoint. I have read so many. I always enjoy her books.
June 28, 2021
This is the book you have been looking for if you love the Lifetime Channel.
December 22, 2019
This book is collection of about a dozen cases -- all but THREE of which are from the "Ann Rule's Crime Files" series -- so they've been previously published. If I had realized that, I would not have bought this book. I had already read those that were previously published, and even one of the supposedly "new" cases sounded very familiar.
The writing was just 'ok', and so I cannot recommend this book to anyone, unless you've never read any of Rule's books. Even at that, I would recommend you get one of her earlier, full-length novels, rather than reading these short summaries of cases.
The writing was just 'ok', and so I cannot recommend this book to anyone, unless you've never read any of Rule's books. Even at that, I would recommend you get one of her earlier, full-length novels, rather than reading these short summaries of cases.
August 18, 2018
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
This is only the second book* I've read by Ann Rule, so the fact that a lot of these stories were reprints (though updated) from other books didn't really bother me.
Most of these cases took place in the 1960's and 70's and were, therefore, cases I'd not heard of before. They were well researched and told in a way that presented the facts, but not in a cold, clinical manner. Though each story was short, you certainly felt for each of the victims in these horrific cases.
There were a few stories I'd rather have not read, especially those involving children and animals as victims. I say this as someone who is a regular viewer of Discovery ID and Oxygen. (I usually switch off shows on those channels when I realize that children or animals are going to be involved.)
*By the by, the only other book I've read by Ann Rule was, If You Really Loved Me. I read it when I was a teenager, and the only thing I remembered about it over the years was that it involved a teenage girl named Cinnamon Brown. I've since seen a couple of shows about the case on one or both of the two networks I listed above.
This is only the second book* I've read by Ann Rule, so the fact that a lot of these stories were reprints (though updated) from other books didn't really bother me.
Most of these cases took place in the 1960's and 70's and were, therefore, cases I'd not heard of before. They were well researched and told in a way that presented the facts, but not in a cold, clinical manner. Though each story was short, you certainly felt for each of the victims in these horrific cases.
There were a few stories I'd rather have not read, especially those involving children and animals as victims. I say this as someone who is a regular viewer of Discovery ID and Oxygen. (I usually switch off shows on those channels when I realize that children or animals are going to be involved.)
*By the by, the only other book I've read by Ann Rule was, If You Really Loved Me. I read it when I was a teenager, and the only thing I remembered about it over the years was that it involved a teenage girl named Cinnamon Brown. I've since seen a couple of shows about the case on one or both of the two networks I listed above.
January 15, 2012
OH MY GOD DON'T READ THIS WHEN IT'S DARK OUT.
*shudders*
(And definitely triggers for sexual assault and violence against women - I managed it just fine with a few episodes of skimming really fast, but I generally do okay with Ann Rule books. I think it's because she has such compassion for the victims and isn't nearly as graphic in her descriptions as she could be.)
I need a really fluffy book now.
*shudders*
(And definitely triggers for sexual assault and violence against women - I managed it just fine with a few episodes of skimming really fast, but I generally do okay with Ann Rule books. I think it's because she has such compassion for the victims and isn't nearly as graphic in her descriptions as she could be.)
I need a really fluffy book now.
September 19, 2017
Well it doesn't enhance my faith in humanity at all, but if you are in a short-format true-crime mood and like Ann Rule's style, this is a good read. She includes somewhat judge-y introductions and sometimes updates to each of the stories; some are familiar from her books and others are new. Need to move on to a happier book now.
April 29, 2019
True crime
I was a bit disappointed with Without Pity. Having read several Ann Rule books before I felt this one was rushed and not as detailed as some of her other books. It hasn't put me off reading more from the author though as her other books have been fantastic and she is the best author when writing about true crime
I was a bit disappointed with Without Pity. Having read several Ann Rule books before I felt this one was rushed and not as detailed as some of her other books. It hasn't put me off reading more from the author though as her other books have been fantastic and she is the best author when writing about true crime
October 24, 2019
This book contains true cases of dangerous killers. The author was present in the various courtrooms, taking notes, when these particular cases went to trial, and now you get to read about them. I usually am not too fond of books that contain a bunch of smaller stories, but I was entertained.
February 3, 2009
Another Ann Rule masterpiece! Another example of the scary people in the world that appear fairly normal!
June 9, 2012
12 intriguing cases of murder by some of the most heinous criminals Ann Rule has ever profiled. An enjoyable read for those of us who read true crime.
August 7, 2011
another good one by Rule..she has such a way of getting inside these people's heads, she must have nerves of steel
November 18, 2012
She's not the best writer but I still love her books. If you are into true crime stories then she is your author. She has tons if good books!
May 12, 2014
All Ann Rule books are good writing and deep investigation.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews